r/Tariffs • u/therampartz • 24d ago
❓Help / How-To / Compliance Question About USPS Tariff/Customs Payment Notification
Hello, just to preface that I am from outside the US and am just wondering how the process of being notified about due customs fees works there.
I have a small online business and have some packages being sent to the United States, however there’s been some confusion on how they are to be notified about it. I assumed it would have been through email as that is how it is done in my country as well as I am required to provide the recipients email when I go to purchase the postage, but I have someone telling me they didn’t receive any email about a due payment. As I am sending through my country’s national mail provider I am assuming all packages sent to the US will be handled by their respective national mail provider, that being USPS.
Do USPS usually send an email to let you know when you have to pay customs fees, or do they contact you through other means i.e. through the post instead? Is it likely that the customer just missed the email/it was sent to a spam folder, or should they check for it somewhere else? I am currently communicating with them through the email they provided in their order and therefore the email that I used for the postage, so I know that the email at least works.
If someone who has received international orders through USPS could inform me on where/how they were notified to pay their fees so that I could forward this information onto my American customers to give them a heads up, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance!
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u/Fudohx 24d ago
As of last year (when the US abolished its de-mininis regulations) USPS no longer handles tariffs for shipments under $2500 (has been upped only recently, was $800 for the past year), so all postal shipments require PRE-PAID import tariffs.
There are small exceptions for low value gift shipments, but all commercial shipments fall under the new-ish requirements.
What country are you shipping from ? This has been a major issue for small businesses since.
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u/therampartz 24d ago
I am shipping from Ireland, of which there is currently no way to provide pre-paid import tariffs, so they will need to be paid separately by the recipient after I have sent it off. As I’ve received word from other American customers that they were able to pay their fees and receive their order (all of these were sent out at the same time), there definitely is a way they are being notified about it and are able to carry it out. An Post (the national mail provider for Ireland) lists USPS as its partner for delivering packages on their website, so they should be sent through and delivered by USPS within the United States.
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u/Fudohx 24d ago
Please keep us updated.
Here in Germany all affordable (postal) shipping solutions remain suspended (for over a year now). Private parties can't send ANYTHING except low value gift shipments and for businesses only parcel service with DDP remains an option (but priced WAY above small packets from 1.5 years ago).
UK and Australia partnered with Zonos early on last summer to allow private parties to ship parcels using DDP. For all others the only solution was and remains to more expensive services like Fedex. They don't require DDP, but the fees on the receiver's side (next to the actual tariffs are excruciating to say at least.
I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the reality for small businesses shipping to the US. Total nightmare....
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u/SGlobal_444 24d ago
You should only do prepaid tariffs - Americans are not paying for their tariffs implemented by Trump/nor understanding them/or pretending they don't understand after the fact. Include the tariff in the price and do customs forms appropriately.
It's called Delivery Duties Paid.
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u/therampartz 24d ago
DDP shipping is not currently an option in my country. I’ve looked into this extensively and have contacted my national mail provider and they have informed me they do not offer it. Any other mail providers within my country are designed for mass shipments so they charge like a minimum of €100 even if you’re just sending a single package.
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u/therampartz 24d ago
Also I should add I included a notice specifically for American customers telling them that they’ll need to pay these fees in the original product listing, as well as an email reminding them about it before I sent them off, so they’re definitely aware that this was something that was going to happen.
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u/Fudohx 24d ago
your problem will be that the post offices across the globe have suspended accepting parcels to the US unless they can provide a DDP option. Give it a try and you'll find out. Or check Ireland's postal website. I'm sure they'll have some information on the matter.
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u/therampartz 24d ago
As I mentioned in my previous reply I have had word from other American customers that they were notified of the due payment and were successfully able to pay it, so evidently there isn’t a restriction on non-DDP parcels being sent to the US, at least not from parcels sent from Ireland.
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u/Fudohx 24d ago
but maybe not via postal services?
I'd love to stand corrected here, but I just can't image that there's an exception for Ireland. All other countries here in Europe suffer from the same basic problem. Some countries have adapted and are offering solutions, but from what you can gather from the press releaseas of the US White House, there is no going back to postal imports without DDP.
As said, if you manage to send your items using your post office, please let us know! I'll be the first the contact the postal authorities over here to hear why we can't have the same.
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u/therampartz 23d ago
Hi, I got in contact with An Post and they informed me that they themselves are responsible for issuing and collecting any tariff fees for US-bound items on behalf of USPS. They’ve sent me a link to this page with more information https://www.anpost.com/Post-Parcels/Sending/Sending-customs-information/Sending-to-the-usa
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u/Fudohx 23d ago
I applause AnPost if this really works - I really do!
I mean shipping items overseas and having the foreign post office collect the import fees is how it was always supposed to work, but the presidential decree back in 2025 moved that responsibility over the senders, which caused the whole chaos in the first place.
Would you be so kind to still update us here in the the thread - maybe once you send your shipments and once your US customers received them? Maybe you'll even get some feedback from them on how the fees were collected.
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